It would appear that auction house Profiles in History had an unbelievable success with their Captain America: The First Avenger Auction event this past weekend, on behalf of Marvel Studios. The stand out single sale, of course, was “Lot #154 Captain Amerca complete hero suit“, which sold for $233,700 ($190,000 hammer plus $43,700 Buyer’s Premium). Over a quarter of a million dollars for one of presumably multiple copies of a costume from a movie that was released nine months ago. I am not easily surprised by anything in this art market, but this I find astounding and shocking. And my first thought immediately went to a concept discussed on this site in the past – the “Hype Premium” – but even that cannot come close to explaining this auction result.

Profiles in History is working with Marvel Entertainment to hold a special auction for original props, costumes, set pieces, vehicles, and other production material from ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’ (2011), along with a few special bonus pieces from ‘Thor’ (2011) and ‘Iron Man 2′ (2010). The catalog can be viewed at the Profiles in History website in what appears to be embedded iCollector auction software . Their auction will be held during the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo (C2E2) at McCormick Place on April 14th. Joss Whedon’s highly anticipated ‘Avengers’ movie will be released theatrically in the U.S. just a few weeks later, on May 4th. Read more